NWA-PCUG Newsletter Article, June 2009
Exploring Microsoft Windows 7 Beta 1, Part II:
What I've Discovered About Windows 7 (A)

Written by Lee Reynolds, a member of the Boca Raton Computer Society, FL
http://www.brcs.org
leetutor (at) earthlink.net (click to email author)

This article has been obtained from APCUG with the author's permission for publication by APCUG member groups; all other uses require the permission of the author `(see e-mail address above).

Lee continues an overview of what the new operating system might look like, as well as what it is likely to have for features.

System Requirements
For those who are wondering, these are what Microsoft says are the system requirements for Windows 7:

• a 1 GHz or faster processor (for both the 32-bit and 64-bit version)
• at least 1 GB of main memory (RAM)
• at least 16 GB of available disk space to install the operating system
• a graphics adaptor that supports DX9 graphics with at least 128 MB of memory (in order for Aero to work)
• a DVD-R/W drive

Main Improvemennts
Windows 7 is essentially a much improved Windows Vista. It has these main improvements over Vista, among many others:

• easier home networking through a new facility called HomeGroups
• a much more capable Windows Backup tool
• a redesigned and more functional Taskbar
• a new concept for organizing files and folders called Libraries
• the ability to use Windows Instant Search over other pcs in a network
• improved support for multimedia using Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center
• a much friendlier version of Vista's User Account Control
• some new capabilities of the Aero interface, notably "Aero Peek" and "Aero Shake" and "Aero Snap"

Main Features
Let's start taking a look at the Windows 7 Beta in an organized travelog through all the main features, complete with screen captures. First, we take a look at the Desktop.

The Desktop
When you look at the Windows 7 Beta Desktop (Figure 1), you will not see many differences from Vista’s.

One difference you will see immediately, is that there is a little message etched into the lower right hand corner of the screen reading: "Windows 7 For testing purposes only. Build 7000".

Also, there is a shortcut on the Windows 7 Desktop labeled "Send Feedback". This is your mechanism for telling Microsoft about what you like and dislike, what bugs you found, etc. It will only send the report to Microsoft if you have a Windows Live ID number. The facility for sending feedback is also present in every window you open, at the top right near the Minimize, Maximize and Close buttons.

As in Windows Vista, the Start button of Windows XP and previous versions of Windows has been replaced by a small round "orb", which only tells you it is related to "Start" if you hover the mouse over it for a second or two, and then a tooltip pops up briefly.

Notice that Microsoft decided to eliminate the famous Sidebar of Vista. You can still have "gadgets" located on your Desktop, but more about that later.

The Taskbar
Let's take a look at the new Windows 7 Taskbar. Note that the icons are a bit larger and therefore the Taskbar is wider than what you may be used to from previous versions of Windows.

You can adjust these smaller by using Taskbar Properties, but then you may lose some of the neat "Aero" effects. When you first install Windows 7, you see icons for Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer and Windows Media Player.

This is similar to what was present on what was called the "Quick Launch Toolbar" in earlier Windows.

Note the line at the right end of this group of icons separating them from the Taskbar proper. Does this mean the Quick Launch Toolbar is now gone in Windows 7? Yes, it does. The entire Taskbar in Windows 7 is now a mixture of pseudo Quick Launch icons and the ordinary buttons present for running programs.

You can distinguish a button on the new Taskbar as being one for a running program by the fact that the button appears to have a square surrounding the icon. (Thus, the rightmost icon in the screenshot (Figure 2), which is for the built-in Snipping Tool, has a square around it because the program is running – that was what I used to take the screenshot.)

Also, if the button is a pseudo Quick Launch button, then you can right click it and select Unpin from Taskbar on the context menu to remove it. The screenshot below shows this right click menu for the Windows Explorer icon.

If you right click one of the pseudo Quick Launch icons on the Taskbar, you get what is called a "Jump Menu". The screenshot shows a Jump Menu for Windows Media Player.

All of the icons are moveable on the Taskbar. Just click and drag any icon left or right anywhere you want.

The next screenshot shows the “Notification Area” of the Windows 7 Taskbar. (This is what was called the "System Tray" prior to Windows XP.)

Notice that there are only a few icons present in the Windows 7 Notification Area. One is normally the "Action Center" icon, which will notify you of important actions you need to take, like downloading a Windows update or turning on the Windows Firewall.

All of the Notification Area icons can be individually adjusted to determine whether or not they appear there and whether or not notification messages will be displayed. More about that later.

If there are hidden icons in the Notification Area, you will see a little upward pointing arrow on the left which when clicked gives you a display of the ones not shown. Notice that now the Taskbar is wide enough to show the date as well as the time at the right end in the Notification Area.

There are other properties of the new Taskbar, which will be described further in the Aero Effects section.

Next Time
That is all for now, come back next month for Part 3, which will cover the New Aero Effects:

Aero Shake
Aero Peek
Aero Snap

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